To Hell With Firaxis

[Warman17]

I have been a player of CIV since CIV I. I am always the first of my friends to pick it up, and I am always the one who convinces my friends to purchase it. This is the last piece of software I'll be buying from Firaxis. I'll ensure my friends address this similarly. Firaxis should consider actually testing their products adequately in the future before shipping.

My system is more than adequate to run their software, yet said software will not run. At first, it ran, but terrain didn't display (it was all black, only people, cities, and resources appeared). I reinstalled, and now it simply doesn't run.

To Hell with Firaxis. By the way, don't even try the support line. Call back in 24 hours my ass.......

-Clausewitz

Play the game until about 20-30 turns in when you've explored a little bit. It won't be black anymore, I had the same problem.

 

[doggiedaddy]

Well, this does seem to be a very widespread problem among ATI users. I've got an ATI x800 XL 256mb that has zero problems on every other game I've got (runs them all quite well, actually!), and to have these utterly strange errors with a very large number of people (no telling how many poor folks aren't even posting on the forums, given the number who have) with ATI cards is simply a case of very lackluster testing before shoving it out the door.

This isn't a 'oh what a wide variety of graphics cards there are, there are bound to be problems!' issue, since the, oh, fifteen other games on my system (including another Firaxis title, Pirates!), had _zero_ problems right out of the box.

Having a game that is unplayable right out of the box on a higher end system that blows the specs out of the water is shockingly poor worksmanship.

Meanwhile, on my old Dell 1.7ghz with a 64mb Nvidia card, the game runs nice, if slightly choppy. woo hooooo!!

 

[pixelboy411]

I agree intel sucks, but I'm a P4 1GB laptop user and dell uses intel 8xx series video. One of the things I really appreciated about Firaxis games as that they would run on almost any machine. Now I kind of feel like I have been kicked to the curb and wasted my $50. Too bad. I had really been looking forward to this release for months...

 

[UglyElmo]

This is always the problem when a company jumps from 2d to 3d. The total war series of games with the introduction of RTW has had the same problems with some Vid cards not working, which worked with the previous games. There will be a workaround or patch out soon, so all hope is not lost, just a bit o frustration. Look at it as "growing pains" (Firaxis' move to 3D).

 

[pixelboy411]

I suspect there is not much hope for those of us with laptops and integrated non-T&L video....

 

[Clausewitz]

Play the game until about 20-30 turns in when you've explored a little bit. It won't be black anymore, I had the same problem.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been able to get it to load (black background with partial leader heads) and tried it for some 70 turns, but still had nothing but blackness for terrain. I have a laptop, which means replacing my Intel video will not be a simple matter. Forget this, I'm going to bed.

Thanks everyone for you feedback.

Regards,
-Clausewitz

 

[Willem]

I really appreciate the feedback guys, but I don't even have an ATI video card. It's an intel. I've been at this since 3:00PM. Tried everything applicable

Thanks,
-Clausewitz

Well there's your problem. Onboard Intel cards for the most part don't support Hardware T&L, you'll have to get a new one.

 

[pixelboy411]

Unfortunately I have a 1 year old dell laptop. Can't really justify throwing it out and buying a new one.

 

[Hammurabi II]

I have a mobile integrated Intel video card (915GM) and the game works fine for me.

 

[pixelboy411]

I have a mobile integrated Intel video card (915GM) and the game works fine for me.

Yeah. You lucky dog! The 9xx series have T&L Support

 

[Hammurabi II]

Yeah. You lucky dog! The 9xx series have T&L Support

Which was a surprise to me since srtest.com said I didn't have T&L. I got the game anyways....

 

[*Satis]

Look at it as "growing pains" (Firaxis' move to 3D).

That works, if you ignore Pirates! and the four years since Civ3.

 

[UglyElmo]

LOL Satis

I guess you are right about Pirates. I had forgotten that it was the first 3D game but, as with a lot of developers, different people are working on different games simultaneously, so the group which worked on Pirates, (concerning the 3D engine), may not be the same group that modified the engine for CIV IV. That was the problem with Rome: Total War in the Total War series of games by Creative Assembly. Several problems fixed in previous games, reared their ugly heads again in Rome. It was finally stated by CA that two different groups worked on MTW and RTW simultaneously, so problems fixed in a patch for MTW were not addressed in RTW.

So it could still be "growing pains" for this particular group of programmers. Only Firaxis can say for sure.

 

[IATyco]

Frustration can make you do things you'll regret later

Frustration rarely solves any problems.

Indeed. One of my friend threw the CD of a game (not Civ 4) against the wall when the game crashed, breaking the disk. He really regrets it now because he can't find a replacement copy because the game is not for sales anymore (it's an old game).

 

[pixelboy411]

Oddly eenough, Pirates works with my laptop 8xx intel, which is why I bought civ 4. sound like the black terrain and cheshire cat bug are happening to alot of people though, so maybe they can figure a patch.

 

[baboon]

I really appreciate the feedback guys, but I don't even have an ATI video card. It's an intel. I've been at this since 3:00PM. Tried everything applicable

Thanks,
-Clausewitz

Man your system just can't play Civ IV. Stop complaining and fix your own problems. And don't blame Firaxis for your own fault.

 

[Cave Troll]

I really appreciate the feedback guys, but I don't even have an ATI video card. It's an intel. I've been at this since 3:00PM. Tried everything applicable

Thanks,
-Clausewitz

Your graphics card does not have T&L support. therefore WILL NOT RUN ANY NEW GAMES.
Intel graphics cards are USELESS (except for making a satisfing thud when hurled against the wall.)

Heres my specs in case any1's interested.
AMD Athlon 1.24Ghz
1 Gb Ram
Radeon 9600 Atlantis
SB Audigy
Runs Civ 4 like a Dream

 

[balearicrazy]

I think you are probably shooting down the wrong people here. The problems you describe with rendering are often down to Microsoft's DirectX components, and their latest version (which is included on the CIV4 cd) is plagued with problems apparently. I have had to reset mine recently back to an earlier version as it kept crashing my video card in the middle of games.

 

[Loka]

im having the same problem and i cant figure it out my graphics card is NVIDIA Geforce 4 Graphicscard and i have windows XP which update my cards and everything else periodically some one please help

I was having problems with my GeForce4 MMX. I was about to give up, but then I remembered that I had recently updated my drivers. I pulled out an old video game that I knew worked, and saw that I was suddenly having problems with that one too. I rolled back the new drivers and now Civ runs fine!

 

[BlackMonsterUK]

Did you follow the suggested fix in the sticky thread by Firaxis? You HAVE to install the DirectX supplied on the disc, as apparently even the latest downloadable 9.0c from Microsoft is not as up-to-date as the one on the disc. That could solve your problem.